Cnidoscolus urens
Leaves are lobed and large, while the white flowers occur in cymes, producing a spiny 3-seeded capsule with seeds rich in fats and proteins, resembling those of Ricinus communis.The principal pollinator during the dry season is a butterfly, Eurema daira, which does not discriminate between male and female flowers.Female flowers, making up only some 6% of the total, produce almost no nectar and appear to mimic males in order to receive attention from the pollen- and nectar-gathering insect.[2] Cnidoscolus was separated from the Linnaean genus Jatropha on the basis of its stinging hairs or trichomes, that consist of a multi-cellular pedestal and a single, elongate, hollow cell with a slightly swollen tip.On being touched, the brittle swollen tip breaks off at an oblique angle, the sharpened end readily penetrates the skin, and the cell contents are injected as if by a hypodermic syringe.